Author Archives: Marc

Dat zit wel snor

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that's all right, that will be all right Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week] Snor

There isn't really a literal translation for "dat zit wel snor". In Dutch, verbs like "zitten" (to sit), "staan" (to stand) and "liggen" are sometimes used in case of an ongoing activity, usually translated in English with a conjugation of "to be" + gerund, for example: "hij zit te liegen" (he's lying). In this particular phrase, "zit" is also translated with "is"/"will be", although it's not an ongoing activity that is referred to.

"Dat zit wel snor" is synonymous to "dat zit wel goed".

"Snor" translates to moustache, by the way 🙂

Examples:
– "Heb jij je surprise nog niet gemaakt? Morgen is surprise-avond!" – "Maak je niet druk, dat zit wel snor." 
("You haven't made your Sinterklaas surprise yet? Tomorrow is Sinterklaas surprise night! "Don't worry, that will be all right.")

– "Nederlands leren is een kwestie van veel oefenen." – "Dat zit wel snor, ik volg de DWOTD op Twitter." 
("Learning Dutch is a matter of practising a lot." – "That's all right, I follow the DWOTD on Twitter.")

– "Wat is je strategie om de koploper te verslaan?" – "Dat zit wel snor, we hebben een geheim wapen…" 
("What's your strategy to beat the number one team?" – "It will be all right, we've got a secret weapon…")

Expressions:
– "In orde": in order, okay, all right.
– "Dat zit wel goed": that's all right, that will be all right.

Example:
– "Alstublieft meneer, uw wisselgeld." – "Dat zit wel goed, dat muntje van 5 cent mag je houden."
("There you go sir, your change." – "That's all right, you can keep the 5 cents (coin).")

Related words:
– Snor: moustache [noun] [de snor, de snorren].

Example:
– "Mannen met een snor bereiken meer in het leven." – "Wat een onzin!"
("Men with a moustache achieve more in life." – "That's nonsense!")

Surprise

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surprise Iconspeaker_3
[noun] Surprise
[de sur-pri-se, de sur-pri-ses]

The Dutch "surprise" (pronounced "sur-pree-zuh") is nearly only used in the context of Sinterklaas. Unless you're a "kakker" and speak with a hot "aardappel" in your mouth…then you may want to use "surprise" as a synonym for the far more common "verrassing" (surprise)…and if you really want to overdo it, you can use the French "quelle surprise" 🙂

See Extra for more info on the Dutch tradition of "surprises".

Examples:
– "Heb jij je surprise al klaar? Zondag is het pakjesavond!" 
("Do you have your Sinterklaas surprise ready yet? It's Sinterklaas' evening of presents on Sunday!")

– "Ik heb echt een onnozele surprise gemaakt voor Frank…dat zal hij echt niet leuk vinden :-)" 
("I really made a silly Sinterklaas surprise for Frank…he's really not going to like it :-)")

– "Mijn beste kerel! Mieters jou hier te treffen, wat een surprise!" 
("Old chap! How swell to meet you here, what a surprise!" Lit.: "My best man!…")

Expressions:
– "Grote ogen opzetten": to be surprised, to be dazed. Lit.: "to put on big eyes".
– "Nou breekt mijn klomp!": I'll be damned! Lit.: "Now my wooden shoe breaks!"

Example:
– "Heb jij deze surprise gemaakt?? Nou breekt mijn klomp! Hij is geweldig!!"
("Did you make this Sinterklaas surprise?? I'll be damned! It's great!!")

Related words:
– Pakjesavond: Sinterklaas' evening of presents [noun] [de pakjesavond, de pakjesavonden].
– Stomverbaasd: dumbfounded, flabbergasted [adjective].
– Verrassing: surprise [noun] [de verrassing, de verrassingen].

Example:
– "Met die stevige wind is het geen verrassing dat de gevoelstemperatuur erg laag ligt."
("With that strong wind, it's no surprise that it feels like temperatures are very low.")

Extra:
During Sinterklaas time, it's kind of a tradition to have a "surprise-avond" (lit.: surprise night). The "surprise-avond" may coincide with "pakjesavond", but this is not mandatory. A few weeks (sometimes months) before "surprise-avond" there's the crucial part of "lootjes trekken", where all participants draw the name of another participant. It is of the utmost importance not to reveal the name you have drawn, although many try to find out the names that others have drawn. The objective is then to create a "surprise" for the person you've drawn, which consists of three elements: 1. a hand-made object (constructed by using materials like paper, cardboard boxes, toilet paper roles, etc.) 2. a Sinterklaas poem, and 3. a small, funny present. During "lootjes trekken" often a maximum amount is agreed upon, which may be spent on the "surprise". The created object, poem and/or present must preferably apply to a characteristic feature of the recipient. Finally, at the "surprise-avond" everybody opens/unpacks/dismantles the "surprise" that has been created for him/her, reads the poem out loud, and guesses the name of the creator. Because the quality of the "surprises" may vary, a "surprise-avond" may include feelings of both pleasant surprise and serious disappointment, as well as the consumption of alcoholic beverages 🙂

Gevoelstemperatuur

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wind chill, chill factor Iconspeaker_3
[noun] Gevoelstemperatuur
[de ge-voels-tem-pe-ra-tuur, de ge-voels-tem-pe-ra-tu-ren]

"Gevoelstemperatuur" is composed of "gevoel" and "temperatuur" (connected by an 's'), which respectively translate to "feeling" and "temperature". The "gevoelstemperatuur" is the (outside) temperature that is perceived by people under influence of the wind. The "gevoelstemperatuur" is lower than the actual temperature. In English, this phenomenon is called 'wind chill'.

Sometimes, "gevoelstemperatuur" is used to qualify the atmosphere in a room or among people, see the Examples.

Examples:
– "Door de wind kan de gevoelstemperatuur het vriespunt bereiken." 
("Because of wind chill, it may feel like the temperature reaches freezing point.")

– "Het vriest dat het kraakt!" – "Dat valt wel mee, de gevoelstemperatuur is gewoon heel laag door de wind." 
("It freezes really hard!" – "It's not so bad, there's just a high chill factor because of the wind.")

– "Frank is vorige week vreemdgegaan, de gevoelstemperatuur thuis is nu tot onder het vriespunt gedaald…" 
("Frank cheated on his wife last week, the temperature at home has dropped below zero now…")

Expressions:
– "Het vriest dat het kraakt": it freezes really hard / there is a sharp frost, very cold (while frosty). Lit.: "it freezes that it cracks".

Related words:
– Gevoel: feeling(s) [noun] [het gevoel, de gevoelens].

Example:
– "Mijn gevoel voor jou is alleen maar sterker geworden…ik hou van jou!"
("My feelings for you have only become stronger…I love you!")

– Temperatuur: temperature [noun] [de temperatuur, de temperaturen].

Extra:
The Dutch measure temperature in degrees Celsius. The "vriespunt" lies at 0 (zero) degrees Celsius (that's 32 degrees Fahrenheit). The "kookpunt" lies at 100 degrees Celsius (that's 212 degrees Fahrenheit). Click here to go to the website of the The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), where you can convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit, or even better: convert from 'normal' temperature to "gevoelstemperatuur"!

Gaan met die banaan!

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(Just) go! / Go go go! Let’s go! Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

ape-44564_640“Gaan met die banaan!” literally translates to “Go with that banana!” 🙂 It’s used to encourage people to go ahead with the activity at hand. “Gaan met die banaan” doesn’t really have an etymology…it’s just a good rhyme 😉

Examples:
– “Je voelt je ziek? Wat dan nog? Gaan met die banaan!” 
(“You’re feeling sick? So what? Just go!”)

– “Je wilt ons tripje afblazen? Niks ervan, gaan met die banaan!” 
(“You want to call off our little trip? No way, let’s go!”)

– “<aerobic lerares> Hoezo geen puf meer voor deze oefening? Kom op meiden, gaan met die banaan!” 
(“<aerobics teacher> What do you mean, no more energy for this exercise? Come on girls, go go go!” Lit.: “How so no more energy…”)

Expressions:
– “Kom op!”: come on!
– “Vooruit met de geit!”: come on! (lit.: “forward with the goat!”)

Related words:
– Banaan: banana [noun] [de banaan, de bananen].
– Opschieten: to hurry (up) [verb] [opschieten, schoot op, i. opgeschoten].

Example:
– “Kom op! Schiet op! Gaan met die banaan!” – “Gast, doe rustig. Ontspan je.”
(“Come on! Hurry up! Go go go!” – “Dude, take it easy. Relax.)

Tevergeefs

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in vain, futile Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb] Tevergeefs
[te-ver-geefs]

"Tevergeefs" is used to qualify a futile action or activity that is without result. Synonymous to "tevergeefs" is "voor niks": for nothing, see also Expressions.

Examples:
– "Mijn pogingen om vanochtend op tijd te zijn waren tevergeefs…met al die files was er geen doorkomen aan…" 
("My efforts to be on time this morning were futile…there was no way to get through all these traffic jams…")

– "Het organisatiecomité heeft tevergeefs geprobeerd om Snoop Dogg te boeken. Het concert is daarom afgeblazen." 
("The organisation committee has tried in vain to book Snoop Dogg. The concert has therefore been called off.")

– "Ik heb jaren tevergeefs gewacht op een huwelijksaanzoek, maar hij vindt een knipperlichtrelatie blijkbaar normaal." 
("Years I have waited for him to propose, but apparently he thinks it's normal to have an on-off relationship.")

Expressions:
– "Onbegonnen werk": it's a hopeless task.
– "Jammer maar helaas": (that's just) too bad.
– "Voor niks": for nothing.

Example:
– "Alles is voor niks geweest, wat een ellende!"
("All has been for nothing, what misery!")

Related words:
– Hopeloos: hopeless [adjective].
– Nutteloos: useless [adjective].
– Onverrichterzake: with nothing achieved, empty-handed [adverb].

Example:
– "!k ben vandaag tevergeefs naar de bank geweest. Ze konden me niet helpen met een lening, dus ik ben onverrichterzake naar huis teruggegaan."
("I've been to the bank in vain today. They couldn't help me with a loan, so I went back home empty-handed.")